NFDA welcomes extremely strong van registrations

“It is extremely positive that registrations of light commercials were up by 11.4% on the pre-pandemic average, marking the best November ever”, said Sue Robinson, Chief Executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle dealers in the UK, commenting on the latest SMMT’s light commercial vehicle registration figures.

Light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes performed well in November with 31,320 new vans registered, 9.7% more than the same month last year. The market is now up 22.8% year to date.

 All segments of the light van market experienced growth except vans weighing less than or equal to 2.0 tonnes. Following last month’s strong growth (+110.5%), sales of LCVs below 2.0 tonnes declined by -19.6%.

The single biggest contributor to light commercial sales, 2.5-3.5 tonnes vans, grew by 7.7% to 22,363 units. These vehicles represent 71.4% of all LCV sales. The pick-up market saw a significant 31.2% rise to a total of 2,610 units.

The Ford Transit Custom (5,809 units sold) and the larger Transit (3,203) continued to be the best sellers in November, followed by the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, with 1,857 registrations.

Sue Robinson concluded: “Sales of light commercial vehicles performed well in November showing that demand remains robust despite significant supply constraints. Going forward, dealers stay cautious as production issues are still affecting the market, but there is optimism as businesses continue to recover”.